


Welcome to the Family

by Talimee



Series: Songs of Skyrim [5]
Category: Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, Stand Still Stay Silent
Genre: Emil being Emil, Gen, Humor, introduction to the family
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-31
Updated: 2017-12-31
Packaged: 2019-02-24 16:31:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 649
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13217688
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Talimee/pseuds/Talimee
Summary: J'Lalli introduces Emil to his cousins.





	Welcome to the Family

**Welcome to the Family**

 

Emil swallowed nervously and surrepticiously wiped his sweaty hands on his new pants as he walked behind J’Lalli through the grand double-doors into the shady inside of the Hotakainen-Clan’s ancestral home in Dune. It was a small house in comparison to other Clan homes they had seen when walking through the streets but what it lacked in size, it made more than up with a splendid interior. Emil’s luxury-deprived eyes feasted themselves on the rich dark woods and intricately woven tapestries that adorned the walls, he let them roam over carved and gilded ornaments, along glass and metal trinkets and finally his gaze ascended to the lofty, window-adorned roof through which coloured beams of light floated down to the floor. For a moment he just stood there, mouth agape in wonderment, before J’Lalli’s chuckle brought him back to the present.

“This one is glad that his love has such great appreciation for J’Lalli’s family _home_ , but J’Lalli thinks that meeting the family _members_ is of greater importance, yes?”

Emil laughed nervously and hurried two steps to where J’Lalli waited. “Sorry,” he said quietly. J’Lalli took him by the hand and led him through another set of doors. Emil had time to scan the room and notice a small, plump Khajiit rise from the purple cushion she had been sitting on, before a sudden impact from the side threw him to the floor. Through the ringing of his ears, he heard alarmed shouts and scolding but was distracted by the growling face of an enormous white tiger not three inches from his nose. It had its paws set squarely on Emil’s shoulders and its weight pressed his back painfully into the thick carpet.

J’Lalli appeared behind the creature and firmly gripped its mane, but Emil doubted that even a batallion of ogres would have been able to move the giant cat.

“Stop that”, demanded the woman and came into view on the tiger’s other side. Her face bore similar white and black markings as the tiger’s but apart from that she looked even less cat-like than J’Lalli. Golden earrings glittered as she flicked her ears back in anger.

“Is that a way to behave?”, she scolded and likewise gripped the mane of the tiger. This time, though, the beast stepped off of Emil’s shoulders and slunk over to the side where it flopped down next to a bowl of sweetrolls and glowered darkly at Emil, its long tail whipping through the air behind betraying its agitation. Still dizzy from the impact, Emil was helped up by J’Lalli and the woman and sat down on a low ottoman. J’Lalli slid in next to him and put his arm around Emil’s waist almost possessively.

“This one is so sorry for Onni-jo’s behaviour!”, chirped the woman. She glowered at the tiger, who interrupted its silent glare at Emil to shoot her a defiant look. “He can be very emotional at times, but is usually not so volatile.”

“It’s okay”, Emil tried to diffuse the awkwardness. He smiled at the tiger. “I’m sure we’ll be friends soon - I’m great with animals.”

He knew instantly that he had made an error when J’Lalli next to him broke out in a throaty laugh and the tiger spat a growl at him before jumping up and leaving the room in a huff.

“Erm,” the woman said, shooting J’Lalli a bewildered look. “This one’s name is Ko’Tuuri, and that was Onni-jo; her brother.”

“Oh, no!”, moaned Emil in dreadful mortification and hid his face in his hands. He was such a fool! Everyone knew about the many shapes of Khajiit! How could he … ?! Argh!!

J’Lalli squeezed his side comfortingly, but a mischievous chuckle was still in his voice when he spoke: “J’Lalli admires his love’s zeal in making friends with Onni-jo and wishes him good luck, because J’Lalli thinks that his cousin hates Emil.”

 

**Author's Note:**

> Khajiits are different in many ways to the rest of Tamriel's population. The most obvious difference is their cat-like appearance, which in itself is governed by the [Lunar Lattice](http://en.uesp.net/wiki/Lore:Khajiit#Morphology). In short: The phases of the two moons, Masser and Secunda, determine the physical appearance of a newborn Khajiit, ranging from housecat-like over humanoid to house-sized tiger.
> 
> Khajiit also have a different [naming tradition](http://en.uesp.net/wiki/Lore:Khajiit_Names#Naming_Convention). There is no indication of family names (I kept them because Khajiit live in a Clan structure so it might as well be that a Clan has a name for itself), but individual names can have one or two affixes, which indicate a profession or age or something else.  
> In case of "our" three Khajiit the affixes mean: J' (young adult, bachelor), Ko' (respected female healer/scolar) and Jo' (respected male scolar/mage).


End file.
